Element Electronics' plant just north of Columbia is the first in South Carolina to close as a direct result of the emerging global trade war, according to a governor's office spokesman.

Gov. Henry McMaster called the plant's closure "a sad moment" as it is the only TV manufacturer in the United States. But he also offered cautious support of President Donald Trump's tariffs strategy, saying that trade around the world needs to be free, open and fair.

"I am hoping that when all the work is done and all the facts are known, that the businesses and industries in South Carolina will not be hurt but instead will prosper," he said.

McMaster's Democratic opponent in the November general election, James Smith, said South Carolina's government has let Element Electronics down.

"The job-killing tariffs that crushed these workers’ hopes can be laid at the door of Henry McMaster," Smith said in a statement. "It is his friend, his ally, his chief supporter who is imposing these tariffs and calling them ‘the greatest,’ while Henry sits by passively."

In a letter Monday to the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce, the vice president for human resources at Element Electronics, Carl Kennedy, wrote that he hoped the shut-down would be temporary but that he could not predict this "with any certainty."

Of the plant's 134 workers, 126 will be sent home starting Oct. 5. A skeleton crew of about eight employees will remain at the facility.

"It's a great company," said Ty Davenport, director of economic development for Fairfield County. "They do a great job with their employees. It's a happy place. They are in downtown Winnsboro. They help the local economy, so it's a pretty big hit."

Impact of tariffs

Element Electronics imports all their parts, and several were already subject to import taxes, said Davenport.

"The parts that are being taxed, that have a tariff on them, there was a tariff on them already of 4.5 percent," Davenport said.

Specifics about those parts were unavailable Tuesday as Element Electronics' management could not be reached. But Kennedy, in his letter to the state, spelled out the issue:

"The layoff and closure is a result of the new tariffs that were recently and unexpectedly imposed on many goods imported from China, including the key television components used in our assembly operations in Winnsboro."

On July 6, the Trump administration imposed tariffs on a range of Chinese raw materials and components worth a total of $34 billion. This came on the heels of broad import tariffs on washing machines, solar panels, steel and aluminum. Trump has also threatened tariffs on all auto imports and Chinese consumer goods. Trading partners around the globe have responded with retaliatory import taxes on U.S. goods.

Among the hardest hit manufacturers in the Upstate was Anderson's Electrolux plant, which uses Chinese compressors to make refrigerators. The company, which employs 1,900 people in Anderson and makes about 2 million refrigerators a year, submitted a letter in May to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, voicing objections to the China tariffs.

Electrolux has said it will continue expansion plans in Anderson despite the tariffs, and other manufacturers such as Greenfield Industries in Seneca have said they have enough of a financial cushion to weather the tariffs.

But Element had been reduced to operating with a zero profit to stay afloat, Davenport said.

'If he fails it could be a catastrophe' Sen. Grassley on speaks on Trump tariffs
Zachary Boyden-Holmes, DesMoines

TV plant seeks tariff exemptions

Davenport said he would be sitting down with the plant's management team this week to talk about their strategy on getting out from under the tariffs.

"We are trying to meet with them to figure out exactly what's going on," Davenport said. "The layoff plan starts in October. It will go on until the end of the year. In the meantime, they will fight for an exemption on the parts they use to assemble the TVs."

The process for exemptions has not been easy, with hangups in the approval process, objections raised and the lack of a rebuttal process, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Kris Denzel.

"We are hoping to get an exemption," Davenport said "We are in touch with senators, the governor and all that."

McMaster said he has been in touch with the Trump administration about how tariffs are hurting South Carolina businesses, but, he said, "we have not convinced them of our point of view on every point, nor have they convinced us of theirs."

In Winnsboro, county seat of rural Fairfield County (population 23,500), Element Electronics is among a handful of manufacturers surrounded by hundreds of acres of pine-tree farms, said Terry Vickers, head of the Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce.

The community lost its last textile mill about a year ago, followed soon thereafter by the the failed SCE&G and Santee Cooper nuclear plants in the county, Smith said. Thousands of jobs have been lost.

"Winnsboro and Fairfield County have had far more than their share of horrible news lately," Smith said.